“Glory” is the closing track on Sullivan & Gold’s Smalltown America debut ‘For Foes’ and whilst album closers are often bombastic affairs – this track exemplifes the bands’ committment to a more understated method of songwriting.
The beautiful clip that accompanies “Glory” was shot by Michael Barwise and Lisa Byrne and echoes the delicate, sensuous detail within the music and lyric.
“I would love people to compare our music with Lord Huron, Villagers, Bombay Bicycle Club – music that is big, yet personal, and tells strong stories,” explains singer/pianist Ben Robinson “My thoughts when writing these songs were that they should feel like tracks you would listen to on a cold winter day. You get the headphones on, wrap up cosy and the songs feel close.”
The lyrics of the track reflect the quiet intimacies of a relationship in its first act. “A secret glance, a word unsaid. The battle-bruised bones we take to bed.” The listener is uncertain as to how this romantic drama will pan out. “The whole trajectory of the album leads to ‘Glory’ the song is about blind-hope, optimism and the thrill of being with someone special for the first time. I wanted to write a song about intimacy without being overly sexual – there’s more tension in a lyric when it’s not in your face.”
The gestation of ‘For Foes’ took several years of friends Adam and Ben swapping song ideas and demos to each other via GarageBand before taking things more seriously when they heard each others work fully realised in the studio.
“We began to send raw tracks to each other and work on our craft. It all began very simply, which created a confidence in what we could achieve, and we ended up writing about twenty tracks with no definite desire for an end product.” Adam states, “Once we started recording tracks things took off, and we had to consider how we were going to play these songs live, whether or not we should get a band together.”
Live the band has proved to be one of this year’s surprise packages, Sullivan & Gold’s delicate songs set against the dynamic, sweeping sound of a full band is proving to be one of the must-sees of 2014.